Anna S. Butynski

Anna S. Butynski

Greenfield, MA - Anna S. (Chula) Butynski, 97, of Colrain Road died Thursday 12/21/23 at the Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. She was born in Greenfield on June 1, 1926, the daughter of Thomas and Agnes Chula. She attended local schools in Greenfield and was a graduate of Greenfield High School.

Shortly after high school, Anna married her beloved husband Michael and began her long career on Butynski's Farm. She enjoyed every minute of it, as it combined her love of people and animals. Anna loved chatting with customers at the farmstand, she enjoyed growing flowers, which included making and selling bouquets at the stand, as well as caring for her beautiful arrangements and flower beds around the farm. She was also the bookeeper for the farm. Prior to that, she worked at Eastern Textile.

Anna loved her church, Sacred Heart. She was a member of the Sacred Heart Guild and was a wonderful asset to the choir. She loved playing the organ, and played and sang at many churches throughout the area.

Anna loved listening to polka music. She spent many years volunteering in the kitchen at the White Eagle's Polish Picnic Grounds in Greenfield, and especially loved the polka mass held at the grounds every summer.

Besides that, she loved her family and the time the farm allowed her to spend close to her children and their families. Her love of animals included daily walks (and later golf cart rides) feeding the birds all around the farm. No matter the weather, Anna would trek behind the farm to fill bird feeders each and every day, and included her children and grandchildren in these walks. She could identify birds just by listening to their songs.

Anna also loved caring for her dogs and cats over the years, including her daily feedings of any cats fortunate enough to call the barn their home. She also enjoyed spoiling her children and grandchildren, including providing a fridge full of snacks in the barn, which she always kept well stocked with all the goodies they loved. She enjoyed riding the golf cart to Harper's Store with her grandchildren to buy scratch tickets and candy, even after long summer days on the farm.

Her other love was seeing all the teenagers working on the farm over the years, many of whom were fortunate enough to get to know her. She loved when they would return as adults to the farm, where she would learn about their lives after the farm and listen to their stories of the time they spent working there.

Among her survivors, Anna leaves three sons, Thomas of Kenya, Africa and his former wife Jan Kalina, Paul and Jane of Greenfield, and Michael "Mick" and Rita of Greenfield; six grandchildren, Melinda Sipe (Scott), Wendy Spofford (Ryan), Jason Butynski (Heather), Todd Butynski (Vanessa), Jake Butynski (Melissa) and Carly Butynski; eight great-grandchildren, Lucas and Ryan Spofford, Abigail and Sophie Sipe, Charlotte and Quinn Butynski and Miles and Chase Butynski; and several nieces and nephews.

Besides her parents, Anna was predeceased by her beloved husband, Michael J. Butynski in 1976, and by her six siblings.

A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be held Thursday 12/28 at 10am at Holy Trinity Church, 133 Main Street, Greenfield. Burial will follow at Mater Dolorosa Cemetery in Greenfield.

A calling hour will be held Thursday morning from 8:30am to 9:30am at the Kostanski Funeral Home, 220 Federal Street, Greenfield.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Blessed Trinity Parish, 14 Beacon Street, Greenfield, MA 01301.

For condolences, please visit www.kostanskifuneralhome.com.